


Dzhon t’Ahkh | Joan of War

by Reyka_Sivao



Category: Historical RPF, Star Trek
Genre: Alternate History, Character Death, Execution, Gen, Pon Farr, Tragedy, Virginity, Vulcan, Vulcan Biology, Vulcan Culture, Vulcan Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-16 00:24:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19306888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reyka_Sivao/pseuds/Reyka_Sivao
Summary: What if Joan of Arc, but on ancient Vulcan?POV interspersed with academic analysis. For full bibliography, please contact the Vulcan Science Academy’s history department.





	Dzhon t’Ahkh | Joan of War

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ClockworkQuill](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClockworkQuill/gifts).



> Inspired by Heather Dale’s song “Joan”. If you haven’t heart it you need to.

Green blood ran down the shaft of the lirpa and dripped from her hand to the hot sands below. Her breath came in hot, hard gasps and her heart vibrated in her side. But it was done.

Slowly, she straightened up and raised the lirpa with her trembling arm, and then brought the blunt end down hard and spoke the words she had always known she must.

“My name is Dzhon!”

* * *

Excerpt: The Golden Maiden, a history of Dzhon t’Ahkh and the War of a Hundred Years, by T’Zhai, 2269. pp. 14-17

 

 

 

> Dzhon t’Ahkh, or Dzhon of War, began her life as T’Dzhon of clan Romee. She was born in 271, right in the middle of one of the longest-running feuds of the pre-reform era, commonly called the War of a Hundred Years, despite lasting for 92.6 years.
> 
> [...]
> 
> When the time came for her to be wedded to her intended husband, she refused him. Though with expressions of regret at the lack
> 
> of alternative to divorce him peacefully, she both invoked the challenge, and would not call another to fight for her hand. Instead, she stood as her own champion and fought her intended groom herself.
> 
> After a grueling fight, she killed her intended mate. As her own champion, she was entitled to represent herself in all matters henceforth, and her first words marked that change by officially dropping the t’ prefix that had at the time marked her as a bonded woman.

* * *

 Sweat dripped from her, running like water, only to be swallowed whole by the thirsty sands.

The tortured angles of the Forge surrounded her as she struggled to maintain her footing. But even when the ground fought to trap her, her steps were sure, for she knew that fate was on her side.

She was too young, she was too idealistic, she was too sure, she was too much.  

But she was not wrong. She was to be the key, and she was alone, as she always knew she would be.

“Tell me,” she whispered to the desert winds. “Tell me how I am to be victorious.”

* * *

 Excerpt: The Golden Maiden: pp. 17-19

 

 

 

> After killing her mate in combat, Dzhon immediately left on what is generally referred to as a pilgrimage through the Forge.
> 
> What transpired for her is generally known as an “awakening”, though to be fair, none of what she claimed after the experience is completely new.
> 
> Dzhon began claiming that she, and only she, was fated to bring victory to her clan's side in the War of a Hundred Years. For much of her childhood, the Romee clan, as part of the larger D’Rehmi Alliance was, at best, in a stalemate with the Llangon Clan of the mountains, and at worst in full retreat and losing territory.  She was at first ignored, however, she did not pull back, but rather renewed her proclamations, complete with claimed endorsements by various mythical and dubiously-historical figures.
> 
> Some claim that she suffered from a then-undignosable mental illness that caused her to hear voices that weren’t there.  Others say she had a particularly high and poorly trained psi rating, and was picking up echoes of her people’s desire for victory and weaving that into a story with her at the center.  Still others, though very few, suggest that there was a real sect that she had interactions with as a child, who instilled these ideas in her, though this theory fails to account for her claims of voices.
> 
> But what is historically confirmed is that, after her awakening in the Forge, she returned to her clan, newly invigorated and redoubling her claims of being the key to D’Rehmi victory.

* * *

“You must take me to him.”

The general looked at her and then sat back.

“And _why,”_ he said, “should I believe your story?”

Dzhon stood and looked at him until he was looking through him.

“Your troops,” she said slowly.

The general tilted his head and raised his eyebrow. “I do have those, yes.”

“Your troops have been fighting to retake the settlement at R’Vreii.”

The general frowned. “This is common knowledge.”

“They have suffered a great reversal of fortune. Many have been lost this day, to no avail.”

The general looked at her and raised a hand to brush his chin.

“When the news does reach you, you must then send me to meet the prince at Shi-Nonn.”

“And if you’re wrong?”

Dzhon’s lip twitched. “Would you question me if I predicted victory? But no—if I am wrong in this, I will never trouble you again.”

* * *

 Excerpt: The Role of Prophecy as Narrative in Pre-Reform Society, Sorol, 2137

 

 

 

> In the story of Dzhon t’Ahkh, therefore, the role of prophecy, both its offering and apparent fulfillment, is not to be underestimated. From even before the time of her birth, there was a subcultural narrative that stated that “an untouched woman” would be the salvation of the D’Rehmi clan. Though it was taken less seriously during this time frame than similar narratives had been in earlier centuries, it was still a cultural meme that provided both Dzhone herself and those to whom she went for aid in her quest, if little more than subconsciously, a reason not to dismiss her out of hand.
> 
> The other primary role of prophecy in her narrative, is of course her prediction of a military reversal for the beleaguered D’Rehmi troops at R’Vreii.
> 
> With their success against the odds, Dzhon’s credibility with the leaders in the military went up more than a few notches, and the general in her region agreed to take her to meet the uncrowned Prince Sha’le at Shi-nonn.

* * *

“My lord.”

Dzhon took one knee in front of the prince, ignoring the unfamiliar press of the plate of  armor over her left ribs, protecting her heart.

Prince Sha’le took a long look at her and then gestured for her to rise.

“You say you are the key to my victory.”

Dzhon inclined her head. “The gods will it.”

“Why should I believe you?”

Dzhon gestured to herself. “If you did not already believe me, then why would you have given me the attire of one of your own men? Why would you have me wear your colors, if not into battle for your throne?”

Prince Sha’le smiled with one corner of his mouth. “You have command of a regiment of my men. Take them to Ole’on-Shi. Retake the city, and then we may speak of Reim-Kahr.”

* * *

 Excerpt: The Major Battles of the War of a Hundred Years, Voruhn, 2392 p. 101

 

 

 

> After she predicted that the unexpected loss at the satellite battle of R’Vreii, Dzhon was sent by Prince Sha’le as a reinforcement to the beleaguered troops at Ole’on-shi.
> 
> Leaders there had mixed reactions to her presence, but while sources vary on exactly how much influence she managed to leverage she managed to wield during her stay there, it is undeniable that, during that time, the defensive forces there experienced greater success than at any point prior.
> 
> Within nine days of her arrival, the siege was over.

* * *

 “There are many more reasonable points of attack!”

Dzhon shook her head. “No,” she said simply, tapping the map. “We must free Reim-Kahr. Only there can lord Sha’le claim his rightful throne.”

“Of course,” said the general, “but surely we should gain a surer footing in Llangon territory before launching such an assault!”

“No,” said Dzhon once again. “It is time. It is past time. I will lead and under the prince’s banner we will be successful.”

“You are not—!”

The general cut himself off when the prince raised his hand.

“She has brought us victory once when it seemed but a distant glimmer of hope. She has my blessing.”

* * *

 The banner rode high and proud over Dzhon’s shoulder as she gripped the pole as she had once gripped the shaft of her first lirpa. But this, this was a far more powerful weapon than any blade could ever be—for now, she wielded hope. 

Dzhon let her free hand twist into the deep fur of the sehlat that carried her forward. Behind them, the soft crunch of feet on sand was multiplied a thousand times behind her until it filled the air with a roar like an oncoming sandstorm.

In the distance, the blur of the horizon was beginning to take the shape of the city of Reim-kahr. Dzhon smiled to herself, thinking of the Llangon occupiers of the city, who would only now be realizing that they were being attacked, and would be scrambling to fortify their defenses. But all their preparations would be for naught, for she led her troops as a force of divine justice.

Lifting her head a little higher, Dzhon began drafting her terms of surrender.

* * *

 Excerpt: The Kings and Matriarchs of D’Rehmi, T’Korah, 2189, p. 822

 

 

 

> After the retaking of Reim-kahr, under the auspices of the well-known Dzhon t’Ahkh, Prince Sha’le wasted no time in taking his place on the throne, with the coronation being held the very next day.
> 
> With this, the beleaguered D’Rehmi forces gained both a renewed sense of legitimacy and significant tactical ground. During the next few months, with notable battles described in detail in other accounts, the D’Rehmi and Llangon forces finally came to a bitter truce. 

* * *

Excerpt: The Golden Maiden: pp. 389-390 

 

 

 

> With the victory at Reim-kahr, Dzhon’s brief but notable career as a military commander came to an end—though her significance did not.
> 
> During the ultimately brief truce between the D’Rehmi and Llangon forces, little is known about her for certain. However, once the ceasefire fell through, she is recorded as having joined an attempted attack on a Llangon base—an attempt which ended in an ambush, during which Dzhon was captured by enemy forces.
> 
> [...]
> 
> Despite these escape attempts and several tries by the D’Rehmi army to rescue her, Dzhon was eventually taken and placed on trial before the Llangon leadership.

* * *

 “Thy name is T’Dzhon?” 

Dzhon’s fingers curled against her palm. “My name is Dzhon.”

“That is not the name thou wast given.”

“That is the name I took.”

The matriarch looked at her for a long moment before glancing down at the scroll in front of her. “And thou wast bonded to Tarek of clan S’Lai.”

Something like fear curled in Dzhon’s stomach and climbed its way up until she tasted bile in the back of her throat.

“Wast thou?

“I was.” Her voice sounded distant, but it didn’t shake.

“And where is he now?”

Dzhon fixed her eyes on the matriarch’s. “He is dead.”

“How did he die?”

“He was killed in kal-if-fee.”

The matriarch tilted her head slightly. “And yet—if thou chose the kal-if-fee, where is thy husband? Didst thou not make the sacred agreement to become the property of the victor?”

“I did.”

“Then where is thy husband?”

Dzhon was silent for a moment. “The victor of the kal-if-fee,” she said carefully, “has given me full support in all my actions.”

The matriarch eyed her for a long moment, and then made a note of the scroll before her.

“And yet, thou hast claimed to be the untouched woman who was said to be the only one able to bring victory to D’Rehmi.”

“The victor has not yet burned. There is no reason I would not yet be a virgin.”

The sound of the le-matya quill scratching notes on parchment was, for a moment, Dzhon’s entire world.

“Then you would go to your husband at his need?”

Dzhon spread her hands. “Are you giving me the freedom to do so?”

“Thy answers are well-formed,” said the matriarch, “but alas for thee, we do not need thy self-incrimination.”  She looked down at her parchment. “Thou called the kal-if-fee, it is true, but rather than choosing for thyself a champion among men, thou broke the sacred tradition and fought thy own mate thyself, and killed him.”

“As is my right,” said Dzhon, but her blood had already turned to green ice in her veins.

“Does thy clan count it so?—but thou art no longer under the jurisdiction of thy birth clan and their profaning of tradition.”

“What would you have me do? I have no husband. I swore only to be the property of the victor, and I was victorious.”

“An oath on nothing sacred is no oath at all. A kal-if-fee without a champion is nothing other than murder—and as though hast claimed that thy blood did not burn, a murder in cold blood.”

Dzhon looked up into the sky for a long moment, and then, almost against her will, the ghost of a smile appeared on her face.

“Then I pay for my freedom in my own blood,” she said. “You may ask if I regret it. But now that I have tasted the waters of freedom, even the smallest taste is worth any price.”

The matriarch raised an eyebrow. “If that be true, then your fate is sealed. But still, I will offer you one last choice, since you admit your guilt: Thou may either be the slave-bondmate of one of our men—”

“I will not.”

“—or, thou shalt face the fire alone, and none shall come to thy need.”

Dzhon clenched her teeth and took a deep breath through her nose.

“I have lived free and I will die free.”

“Then so it shall be. So witnessed: on this day, T’Dzhon, called Dzhon if War, is sentenced to death by the fire.”

* * *

The stone pillar was cold against her back. The sand under her bare feet was hot. These comprised the whole of the reality that Dzhon allowed herself to experience.

She stood bound to a pillar in the center of what could only be this clan’s place of koon-ut kal-if-fee...and, apparently, their execution grounds.

In the distance, the sound of bells began to form out of the background noise of wind through sand.

Soon, the small procession came into view, led by the matriarch on a litter carried by her attendants, then several masked guards, and a woman dressed as a bride.

But it was the last one in the line whose eyes Dzhon caught and held: a man in a purple sash whose hands were already shaking.

The matriarch began to speak, but Dzhon ignored her. She forced herself to focus until the man’s eyes were the entirety of her experience. He trembled and glanced away, but he could not keep his eyes averted.

With an imperious gesture, the matriarch stopped speaking. Obediently, if leadenly, the man in the purple sash stepped forward.

Dzhon forced her eyes not to blink as he approached her and raised his trembling hands towards her.

With one more word from the matriarch, his hands snapped to the meld points on either side of her face.

A sound caught in Dzhon’s throat as fire ripped through her veins from the fingers brushing her face. Her heart pounded on her side, trying in vain to keep up with the storm forcing its way into her body.

She involuntarily jerked, slamming her head painfully against the hard stone and breaking the grip on her face.

“It is done.”

The matriarch’s words barely filtered their way into Dzhon’s consciousness. But still, Dzhon raised her head to lock eyes with her condemner 

“It _is_ done. Your power is broken and your war is lost.” She took another breath and struggled as words slowly slipped away from her power. “I will die, but my name is the name of victory: My name is Dzhon t’Ahkh.”

* * *

 Excerpt: The Golden Maiden, p. 474

 

 

> These are Dzhon’s last recorded words before she succumbed to the blood fever some two days later.
> 
> With her death, the Llangon forces hoped to retake the ground lost to the D’Rehmi alliance, but the D’Rehmi rallied under Dzhon’s memory and name, and though the War of a Hundred Years was still two decades from its final end, the D’Rehmi stood on far better ground than they had at any point before, and the Llangon clan soon lost several key allies that led to their ultimate defeat.
> 
> Dzhon’s trial for murder was posthumously declared a mistrial, and her kal-if-fee declared a valid and legal proceeding.
> 
> In the years that followed, as her story was told and retold, Dzhon gained almost a mythic status in popular consciousness, to the point that the occasional historian will argue that her story was wholly fabricated. However, enough contemporary evidence of her exists that this is by far the minority view.  
> 
> Ultimately, the story of Dzhon of War, despite the possibility of ahistorical embellishments, is one that rests heavily on themes of self-determination and victory against overwhelming odds, and despite—or perhaps because of—the ultimate tragedy, remains a popular vessel for exploring these themes.


End file.
